Message from Dean Paul Shepson

Greetings!

Welcome to SoMAS if you are a new undergraduate student, and welcome back to all continuing students!  This is a fantastic time to be a SoMAS student!  We have exciting new degree programs, like our B.S. in Climate Sciences, and some fantastic new courses too numerous to list here.  We are working hard to ensure that you have engaging and interesting classes and lab/field experiences in each of your four years here.   All undergraduate students should spend a semester abroad!  Go ahead and have a once-in-a-lifetime experience! 

We also have great research and internship opportunities (look under “Content” on the SoMAS community in Brightspace), and the number of opportunities are growing!  Why is that?  Because the Earth and its many ecosystems are changing rapidly due to human influences, ranging from toxic pollutants, to overfishing, to climate change.  Some of these problems, including climate change, are getting worse due to neglect and the rapid acceleration of energy consumption.  We need to work harder to understand the impacts, and of course, to continue the conversion to renewable energy sources.  As a SoMAS student, I hope and expect that you will spend as much time as possible experiencing the Earth, and the incredible, yet threatened, biodiversity on this wholly unique planet.  Research and education are thriving and important in SoMAS, and even more important is - you!  You are our future leaders who will help everyone know and understand and care about the Earth.

In this world of increasingly complex technology I want you to know that you are not an algorithm!  There is no formula for your path forward.  Be bold.  Define your own path, one that is exciting for you.  You are a completely unique and incredible being.  Celebrate that!  The world needs good leadership from people like you, and you will find a great career waiting for you when you finish your degree.  Please know that a wonderful thing about SoMAS is that we are blessed with fantastic faculty and staff who are here to help you succeed.  Get to know them and find out how they can help you!  Sometime in mid- to late-September we will have an ice cream social at Endeavour Hall on the South Campus, and we hope you will come!  Keep an eye out for this on the Wednesday Wave!

If you need help and don't know how to find it, you can always come see me at 145 Endeavour Hall, or at paul.shepson@stonybrook.edu.

Go Seawolves!

Regards,

Paul Shepson,
Dean of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences